‘Faithful disobedience’

An influential house church in China responds to a wave of police detentions

On the evening of Dec. 11, 48 hours after police detained Pastor Wang Yi, Early Rain Covenant Church released a statement Wang had prepared beforehand should such an event occur. Entitled “My Declaration of Faithful Disobedience,” Wang noted that his goal was not to change China’s political system but to obey God’s call as a minister of the Word of God.

“As a pastor, my disobedience is one part of the gospel commission,” Wang wrote in September. “Christ’s great commission requires of us great disobedience. The goal of disobedience is not to change the world but to testify about another world.”

Police detained more than 100 of Early Rain’s leaders and members beginning on Dec. 9, the heaviest crackdown on one of China’s most influential unregistered churches. By the afternoon of Dec. 12, 80 people remained in custody, including Wang. Authorities charged both Wang and his wife, Jiang Rong, with incitement to subvert state power, which could result in a five- to 15-year sentence. Jiang is reportedly held in a “residential surveillance in a designated location (RSDL),” where she will be kept in solitary confinement outside the judicial system for six months. Torture and forced confessions are common in RSDL.

Authorities also charged seven other church leaders and members with crimes of internet provocation and illegal business operation."

The move is part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s continued tightening of religion in the country. In February, the government released new religious regulations that caused widespread crackdowns in provinces such as Henan and Anhui. Hundreds of house churches have been raided, destroyed, and closed. Early Rain, which has 750 congregants, has long been considered a target as Wang has made it a point to keep the church above ground and active in the community in order to “testify to the Middle Kingdom about the Kingdom of Heaven.”

Matthew Bingsen Su, an elder at Early Rain, told me on Dec. 12 that he had been detained on Dec. 9 after going to check up on elder Qin Defu, who had not been responding to messages. Police were already searching Qin’s apartment, and took Su to the station as well. They questioned him about the church’s school and about Wang, then informed him that both the church and the school are illegal and will be banned. They asked him to promise to stop attending the church.

Su refused to answer their questions about his pastor and stated that the regulations were unconstitutional—as the Chinese constitution protects freedom of religion—and that it deliberately persecutes Christians. He also refused to stop attending the church. While sitting in the interrogation room, he started reciting the Westminster Shorter Catechism to himself and found great comfort in its answers. “God doesn’t always save us from suffering and persecution, but he used suffering himself to take upon himself the evil, persecution, and the pitiful of the world,” Su said. “I was constantly asking myself, if my detention is extended and my body is persecuted, am I willing to joyfully say, ‘Lord, I am willing’?”

Su said he was treated fairly by the police officers, and many didn’t seem to know much about Early Rain. They were simply obeying the commands of their superiors. After authorities released him on Dec. 10, about 24 hours after his arrest, he remained under surveillance: His cell phone is monitored, and plainclothes police monitor his movements.

The other released church members have faced a similar situation: either placed under surveillance or sent back to their hometown and told not to return to Chengdu. Several described being mistreated while detained: beaten, trampled on, and deprived of sleep, and two women said they were strip-searched.

In a letter written by Li before his capture, he detailed the church’s contingency plan: The church would never join the state-sanctioned Three-Self Church, would stay open and above ground, and, if possible, would try to return to its building for weekly corporate worship rather than meeting in homes. In a statement made Dec. 12, the church announced that “small groups would meet together this evening as usual.”

Wang’s statement described a type of religious disobedience that would respect the government in areas where God has given it authority, but “through peaceable means, in meek resistance and active forbearance, filled with joy, resist all administrative policies and legal measures that oppress the church and interfere with the faith of Christians.”

He ends the statement saying: “I firmly believe that Christ has called me to carry out this faithful disobedience through a life of service, under this regime that opposes the gospel and persecutes the church. This is the means by which I preach the gospel, and it is the mystery of the gospel which I preach.”

(This story was updated on Dec. 14 with new information.)

June Cheng

June is the East Asia correspondent for WORLD Magazine. Follow June on Twitter @JuneCheng_World.

Comments

Cyborg3

Posted: Fri, 12/14/2018 10:35 pm

They are cracking down on private business too alleging crimes and jailing business owners. If the government claims you are guilty they can effectively jail a person indefinitely. In the US, our children are being taught that our country is oppressive and evil where they are taught that socialism and communism are good! How ironic and sad! Soon we will be losing our country as our constitution is molded and reinterpreted allowing socialism, which will degenerate into a ruthless and godless state dictatorship!

JC3

Maybe a word picture will help educate our children (true or fictional, it makes a great point)

Media Reporter to POTUS, "Why are you so afraid of a socialist economy?"

President Trump, "Because Americans want to walk their dogs, not eat them."

BTW-- The U.S. foreign policy has been "oppressive & evil" ever since we stopped sending Christian Missionaries with food, money, medical supplies, and the Gospel to disastor areas and started sending troops over 150 years ago! America was great, because America was good. America may become great again, with God's mercy, when we repent mightily and adopt the battle cry of the Revolutionay War, "No king but KING JESUS!"

Vista48

Posted: Sun, 12/16/2018 06:57 am

It is during these times of intensity that the power and beauty of the gospel are so evident. The more the world openly rejects it, the tighter it will be embraced by those who seek the truth and believe. God is in control here, as well as there.

JOHN KENNETT

Posted: Tue, 12/25/2018 03:01 pm

"...he started reciting the Westminister Shorter Catechism to himself and found great comfort in its answers. “God doesn’t always save us from suffering and persecution, but he used suffering himself to take upon himself the evil, persecution, and the pitiful of the world,”

Where is this is in the Westminister Shorter Catechism? I searched and was unable to find it.